Collapsible paper cup



Dec. 10, 1929. w. J. MAIN 1,738,782

COLLAPSIBLE PAPER CUP Original Filed Jan. 26, 1924 2 $heet$ -$heet 1 TTORNEY Dec. 10, 1929. w. J. MAIN 1,733,782

COLLAPSIBLE PAPER CUP Original Filed Jan. 26, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 10, 1929 i7 Unrrsn stares FTENT FFEQE WILLIAM J. MAIN, F WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR '10 CHARLES ER RET'I, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COLLAPSIBLE PAPER CU]? Application filed. January 28, 1924, Serial No. 688,673. Renewed April 3, 1929.

My invention relates more particularly to collapsible paper cups, which, when opened for use, have substantially square bottoms, while the bodies of the cups are round, and substantially frusto-conical in shape.

It is well known that the envelope type of cup has a wide use and an extensive sale, because of its cheapness and convenience, but it is objectionable in that, when the cup is distended or opened for use, it does not have a fiat bottom, so that the cup can be set down or made to stand, after it is filled. Many Varieties of collapsible cups have been devised for overcoming this difficulty and providing a flat folding cup, which, when opened, will have a bottom and be capable of being set down on the bottom when filled.

Therefore, one object of my improvement is to construct a flat collapsed or folding cup, which, when collapsed, has substantially the appearance of the envelope type of cup, but is provided with a saddle fold, at the bottom, adapted, when the fiat cup is pressed on its lateral edges, to open and form a substantially square bottom; at the same time the upper body portion of the cup will be distended to form a round frusto-conical cup in appearance.

A. further object is to produce such a cup from a special blank, approximately in the shape of a parallelogram and folded, in a reverse fold, along a longitudinal line at an angle to the side edges of the blank, such that when folded, the end portions on the same side of the longitudinal line of fold, will overlap and preferably diagonally opposite side edges are brought to the longitudinal line of fold, thus forming the seams at the lateral edges of the flat folded cup.

Another object is to so dispose the surplus paper in the folding of the blank that the side walls adjacent the square bottom of the cup will be reinforced and the overlapping tabs are folded and secured against the wall of the blank in such a manner that the joints are sealed and the cup will not leak.

Inproducing this particular style of fold,

I have found it desirable to show two forms of blanks and thevcups produced therefrom.

shows a side elevation of the folded and a'a-z cemented blank of Fig. 3 in flat form; Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section of the folded partially completed cup of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the completed flat folded cup with the lower tabs or points folded inward; Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section through the completed cup, as shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the opened cup; Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical section of the opened cup of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 shows the shape of a modified blank adapted to be folded substantially the same as the blank in Fig. 1, but eliminating surplus paper; Fig. 11 shows the first step or reverse folding of the blank of Fig. 10 Fig. 12 shows the opened finished cup from the blank of Fig. 10; Fig. 13 shows the opened cup in side elevation; F 14: is a bottom view of the cup of Fig. 12; and Fig. 15 is a vertical transverse sec tion on the folding line of the cup shown in Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen from F 1 that the blank 1, from which the cup is to be formed, is substantially an acute angled parallelogram, with the ends 2 arc-shaped to form the lip of the frustoconical cup. The lateral edges 33 of the blank are parallel, and a folding line 4, which may be scored, extends longitudinally of the blank at an angle to the edges thereof, the two portions of the blank on each side of the fold line 4L being substantially equal, but tapering or truncated wedge shaped toward opposite ends. The fold'line 4 preferably meets the curved ends 2 at the same angle as side edge 3 meets it, or the same as the acute angle of the parallelogram, thus forming or indicating the full width of the flat side of the folded cup. The principal fold lines, in. cluding the line 4:, are indicated on the drawlines 5 and 6 to the edges of the blank, there" are indicated fold lines 7 and 8, which with the edge 3 of the blank, form triangles.

\Vhen thebl'ank is folded, as'shown in Fig;

2, the portions between the lines 4, 6, 7 and 3 and between'the lines 4, 5, 8 and 3, are folded upward'toward each other onthe lines 4, 5 and-6,- while theportions within the diamond (5, 6, 5, 6) are folded downward on the line 45* to form a saddle fold. The triangular portions between the lines 7, 8 and the edge 3 are 1 folded inward on the line 7 an d" outward on the line 8, as the different elements-of the blank are folded to the position indicated in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. Further folding-to thefiattenc-d position brings the line 8 or the folded edge on this line to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 4, while the fold line 7 overlies the edge ofthe' fo'ld on the line 5. The-rear side of the blank,- on theportions thereof between the line'st, 5, S and the edges 3 is preferably gumine'd as indicated at 9, i-nFigQ, so that when the triangularportions 7, 8, 3 and the other portions are completely folded or brought flatly togctherfrom the position shown in Fig. 3 to the'positio'n shown inFig. 4, the different portions will be socured together to form the body of the cup, the overlapping portions being indicated by dotted lines. From-an examination of Fig. 4- and a comparison with the fold lines of 1, it will be seen that the portions of the blank between the lines 6, 7 and 3 oiirtline the shape of. the flat sides of the cemented cup, as shown in Fig. 4;. The respective edges 3 of the blank, therefore, coincide with or lie over the fold line 4-, beyond the saddle fold line 4, of the opposite halves of the blank when the cup is completed, thus presenting a smooth unbroken surface on the flat of the folded cup.

The folded blank andythe relations of the various elements t ereof will be seen in 4, and vmore particularly the section in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The next step is to fold the'tabs 10, preferably inward on the line 11 and secure them to the underside of the saddle fold, substantially. as indicated in Figs. '6 and 7; the lattershowinga vertical section through thetabs. Atop plan View of the opencdcupjshown'in the flat in Fig. 6, isshown inFig. 8. By this construction," the walls of the cupQare double thickness, in part, thereby reinforcing the materialso that uieeau maybe readily opened by pressing on the lateral edges represented by 3 and the fold line 4; in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Vhcn pressure is thus applied near the lower corners, the cup will be readily opened to the position shown in Fig. 8 and when filled with liquid will be substantially frusto-conical in shape, with a flat bottom.

In the form of cupjust described, it will be noted that the tabs 10, represent a four-ply thickness of material, which inust be folded in against the bottom ply of the saddle fold, as ind-icated-in' Fig. 7 of the drawings. It is, therefore, desirable to obtain the reinforcing effect of the double wall'a'longgthe fold 11 of the tab, without the surplus paper forming theniultiplicity of plies in the tab. Therefore, indie-"blank shown in Fig. 10 'of the drawings, a triangular portion ofthc paper, Corresponding substantially to the triangle between-the lines 7 and 8 of Fig. 1, has been removed, thus removing several plies in the tabs-10 of the finished cup and at the same time producing a flatfolding, reinforced cup, which, when opened, is water-tighterleak proof: 7

Theforni shown in Figs. 10 to 15 is scored and folded substantially the same as the pre viously described form andthe corresponding edges and folding lines of theblank are given the san'iereference numerals as the 'c'orre spending el'ementsiin the form shown in- Figsi' 1 to 9. From an examination of the blank: shown in Fig. lOfhowever, it will be seen-that the-portions of the blank between the fold lines l, 5, 8' and the edges 3 are slightly narrower than the corresponding portion of the blank in Fig. 1. The object of this is to reduce the overlapping portions of the blank; and preferably the length of the-notch line 8 of FigJlO is approximately half the length of the line 6, so that the corner between; 8 and 3 will, when folded, co'metothe center of line 6, and thus meet the corner of the bottom of the cup on the fold line 11, substantially as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 11 ofthe drawings. The elements ofthe blank shown in Fig. 10 are folded substantially as previously described for the blank shown in Fig. 1 and the successive steps woul-dbe the same as shown in Figs; 2. and 3, with the triangular portionsbetween the lines"? and-8 removed; The edges 3 of the blank, when folded and secured together, meet the fold lines 4;, thus presenting a smooth face on each flat sideof the folded cup. The tabs'lO, as represented in Fig. ll, are then folded inward and secured against the bottom of the cup QSJIIOYQ partic ularly shown in Figs. 13 and 1d. Fig.14. shows a bottom'view of the cup "in its opened position and Fig. 12 is a top'view looking into thecup.

In this f rmat cap, the double thickness side wall does not extendbeyond the side'or cornerof'the squarebottom and, in som e cases, 7 i

ming the blank to the dotted lines 12 in Fig. 10. This latter construction would, of course, still further reduce the amount of overlap between the edges 8 and 12. The form shown by solid lines, however, in Fig. 10 is preferable, in that it carries the reinforcement of the double thick wall, out to the corner of the fold line 11, where the saddle fold breaks to form the bottom of the cup when opened.

The forms of my improved cup, as herein shown and described, are particularly desirable, in that they can be readily and cheaply manufactured by suitable machinery and produced in fiat form, so that they will pack compactly without injury thereto, and when desired, for use, can readily be opened by pressure upon the lateral edges and the opened cup will have a satisfactory bottom, permitting the cup to be set down either when filled or not, and when filled, it will assume substantially a frusto-conical shape.

It will be understood that while I have shown my improved cup in the preferred form, the amount of overlap and position of the seam may be Varied, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the specific details of construction or folding, for obviously, various modifications therein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the in vention.

I claim 1. A collapsible paper cup, comprising an elongated substantially parallelogrammatical blank, adapted to be folded on a line extending longitudinally of the blank at an angle to the longitudnal edges thereof to form a saddle fold at the bottom of the cup with reverse folds at each end of the saddle fold, the longitudinal fold line being so located that the overlapping edges of the side walls of the blank meet the opposite reverse fold lines above the ends of the saddle fold.

2. A collapsible paper cup, comprising an elongated substantially parallelogrammatical blank, folded in a reverse fold on a line longitudinally of the blank at an angle to the edges thereof, the angle of the fold line to the longitudinal edges of the blank being such that the width of the sides of the flat folded cup are represented and lie between the longitudinal fold line and the edges of the blank at opposite ends thereof and on opposite sides of said fold line.

3. The collapsible paper cup as claimed in claim 2, in which diamond-shaped fold lines at the middle portion of the blank outline a saddle fold. and when the blank is folded along the diamond-shaped fold line and the longitudinal fold line in a reverse fold, the bottom will be formed with a saddle fold and the edges of the portions of the blank forming the flat sides of the cup will be brought to the longitudinal line of fold above the ends of the saddle fold, in which position the overlapping wall portions are secured together.

A collapsible paper cup, comprising an irregularly shaped blank, substantially a parallelogram, folded in a reverse fold, on a line extending longitudinally thereof at an angle to the longitudinal edge and on lines near the middleof the blank, forming a diamond on the longitudinal line of fold, so as to form a saddle fold of the material outlined by the diamond-shaped fold lines, with the other portions of the blank in a reverse fold to form the body of the cup in flat form, the longitudinal fold line being at such angle to the edges of the blank that when the blank is folded, the edges of the fiat side walls of the cup on each side extend to said longitudinal fold line at the fold edge of the opposite side wall.

The collapsible cup, as claimed in claim l, in which the amount of material of the blank on each side of the longitudinal fold line at each. end of the blank is different and when the blank is folded, the wider portion is adapted to overlap the narrower portion of the opposite end and to be secured thereto to complete the cup.

6. A collapsible paper cup, comprising a substantially parallelogrammatical blank, which is folded in reverse folds along a line extending longitudinally of the blank and at an acute angle to each of its side edges, said fold line being so located that when the blank is folded, diagonally opposite portions of the blank between the fold line and the side edges of the blank form the sides of the cup in flat folded form.

7. A collapsible cup, comprising an elongated blank, formed substantially as an acute angled parallelogram, which is folded, in a reverse fold, on a longitudinal line forming, with the ends of the blank, angles substantially equal to the acute angles of the blank, the portions of the blank between said fold line and the edges of the blank adjacent the acute angle being adapted to form the fiat sides of the cup when folded.

8. The collapsible cup as claimed in claim 7, in which opposite acute angle portions of the folded blank overlap the obtuse angle portions on the same side of the blank and are secured thereto to complete the cup.

9. A collapsible cup comprising a blank formed as an elongated parallelogram, and which is folded, in a reversed fold, on a diagonal longitudinal line dividing the blank into two equal wedge-shaped portions, the reverse fold taking place at each end from the middle of the blank, so that the middle is formed as diamond-shaped saddle fold for the bottom of the cup, while opposite ends of the wedgeshaped portions of the blank, on the same side of the longitudinal line of fold, are brought into overlapping position and secured together to form the body of the cup.

10'. The c'ollapsiblecuplas claimed-in claim 9, in Whichthe lower tab points of the diamond-shaped saddle foldsare foldedand se cured t0"the b0tt()m wall thereof to deter mine the-lateral edges of the bottom ofthe cup.

111 The collapsible cup as claimed in claim 9,111'which triangular notches are formednear the middle of each long jedge of the blank to remove surplus material.

WILLIAM .J. MAIN 

